Subarches

Funtoo Linux Sub-Architectures

This page provides an overview of Funtoo Linux sub-architectures (also called subarches,) designed for quick and easy reference. While this information is available in other places, such as Wikipedia, it often takes some time to study and cross-reference the various articles to get a good understanding of each type of sub-architecture, and this information generally isn't all collected neatly in one place. That is the purpose of this page. When possible, links to more detailed Wikipedia pages are provided. You are encouraged to help maintain this page as well as the Wikipedia articles referenced here.

64-bit Suport (Generic)

generic_64

Produces code optimized for the most common AMD64/EM64T processors. As new processors are deployed in the marketplace, the behavior of this option will change. Therefore, if you upgrade to a newer version of GCC, code generation controlled by this option will change to reflect the processors that are most common at the time that version of GCC is released.

The generic_64 subarch is designed to support 64-bit PC-compatible CPUs, such as the AMD K8-series processors, which were introduced in late 2003. They were notable as the first processors that supported the AMD64 (also called X86-64) 64-bit instruction set for PC-compatible systems, which was introduced as a backwards-compatible 64-bit alternative to Intel's IA-64 architecture. Intel followed suit and also began supporting this 64-bit instruction set, which they called "Intel 64", by releasing X86-64 64-bit compatible CPUs from mid-2004 onwards (See Intel 64 implementations.)

AMD desktop 64-bit CPUs include the Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon X2, Turion 64, Turion 64 X2 and Sempron series processors. AMD server processors were released under the Opteron brand and have codenames SledgeHammer, Venus, Troy, Athens, Denmark, Italy, Egypt, Santa Ana and Santa Rosa. All Opterons released through late 2006 were based on the K8 microarchitecture with original X86-64 instructions.

Piledriver adds several new instructions over bulldozer, so AMD bulldozer systems cannot run amd64-piledriver-optimized stages. However, this subarch is instruction-compatible with its successor, the, so amd64-piledriver stages can run on amd64-steamroller systems, and vice versa.

Desktop steamroller APUs include the A-Series with codename Kaveri, such as the quad-core AMD A10-7850K APU. Steamroller APUs are also available in mobile versions. Server steamroller APUs will include the codename Berlin APUs, which are expected to be released some time in 2015.

Amd64-steamroller subarches are instruction-compatible with amd64-piledriver, but add new instructions over amd64-bulldozer.

The amd64-jaguar (also called AMD Family 16h) subarch supports the AMD jaguar microarchitecture, which is targeted at low-power devices, including notebooks, tablets and small form-factor desktops and servers. It is perhaps most well-known for being the microarchitecture used for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, which each use custom 8-core Jaguar APUs.
Socketed Jaguar APUs use the AM1 socket, and FT3 socket for mobile devices. G-series "system on a chip" (SoC) APUs are available for non-socketed devices such as tablets and embedded system boards.

core2_64

The core2_64 subarch supports 64-bit-capable Intel Core 2 Processors, which includes some processors of the Core and all processors of the Penryn microarchitecture. All "Core 2" branded processors are 64-bit-capable. These processors were introduced in July of 2006 and were phased out in July of 2011, in favor of Nehalem-based processors.

The Intel Atom Processor is the common name for Intel's Bonnell microarchitecture, which represents a partial revival of the principles used in earlier Intel designs such as P5 and the i486, with the sole purpose of enhancing the performance per watt ratio. Successor to the Intel A100 series (Stealey), which was derived from the Pentium M, the Intel Atom has been produced since 2008. Targeted at low-power devices, Atom processors can be found in a wide range of notebooks, tablets and small form-factor desktops and servers.

The atom_64 sub-architecture supports 64-bit capable Intel Atom CPUs. The first 64-bit capable Intel Atom CPUs were the Intel Atom 230 and 330, released in late 2008. However, Intel also continued to produce new 32-bit Atom Processors after this date. For example, the Atom N2xx series Atom Diamondville models cannot support 64-bit operation, while the 2xx and 3xx Diamondville, Pineview, Cedarview and Centerton can. A full list of 64-bit capable Intel Atom Processors can be seen here.

Important

For 64-bit support to be functional, a 64-bit capable Atom Processor must be paired with a processor, chipset, and BIOS that all support Intel 64. If not all hardware supports 64-bit, then you must use the atom_32 subarch instead.